Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
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Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. · Aug 2010
Schizophrenia patients discharged against medical advice at a mental hospital in Taiwan.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with discharge against medical advice (AMA) and compare the time to rehospitalization between patients with AMA discharges and those with regular discharges. ⋯ Male gender and prescription of typical antipsychotic agents increased the likelihood of AMA discharge. The consequence for patients with AMA discharges was earlier rehospitalization. Future studies are needed in many different mental health systems to better generalize the findings.